Abbas says he has backing for new UN upgrade push

CAIRO - The Palestinians will seek to upgrade their status at the United Nations this month bolstered by the support of Arab countries, Islamic states and the 120-member Non-Aligned Movement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday.

Previous Palestinian attempts to improve their formal status at the global body - a UN observer "entity" with no voting rights - have failed. The Palestinian foreign minister had earlier said they would ask to be made a non-member observer state at the UN General Assembly later this month.

"I am going this month to the UN General Assembly in light of the latest decision in Doha, the Islamic summit and the Non-Aligned Movement summit," Abbas told reporters at the Arab League.

He was referring to meetings in recent weeks of Arab ministers in Qatar, Islamic states in Saudi Arabia and the Non-Aligned Movement in Iran.